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Parliament Passes Bill To Increase Number Of Supreme Court Judges

The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2019, was passed without discussion in Rajya Sabha.

An outside view of Supreme Court in New Delhi. (Source: PTI)
An outside view of Supreme Court in New Delhi. (Source: PTI)

The Parliament on Wednesday passed The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2019, that seeks to increase the number of apex court judges from 30 to 33 to address the issue of pending cases.

“I would urge the House to consider the bill (for consideration and return),” Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said while introducing the legislation in the Rajya Sabha.

Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said, “We have no objection to it...but Members of Parliament want to discuss it as we normally do not discuss judiciary... We get chance once in a decade or six months... We would also want to know about the judiciary.”

Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said it is a money bill, to which the law minister said that he was willing to have a discussion on the judiciary in November.

Bahujan Samaj Party’s lawmaker Satish Chandra urged the government to ensure representation of Schedule Castes in the Supreme Court.

Leader of the Rajya Sabha, BJP’s Thawar Chand Gehlot, urged the House to pass both the Supreme Court Judges Bill and Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amendment) Bill, 2019. However, the Chair took up only the Supreme Court Judges Bill, which was passed without discussion.

The Bill was passed by Lok Sabha on Aug. 5.

Opinion
Cabinet Approves Increasing Strength Of Supreme Court Judges To 33